By Brandon Tucker

Golf Publisher Syndications

updated 4:59 p.m. ET Feb. 5, 2007

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - Each winter, as thoughts turn to spring break trips, college students ponder a timeless riddle: Cancun or the Bahamas? Acapulco or Vegas?

But before you're blinded by thoughts of booze cruises and string bikinis — and before you get worked over by spring-break travel packagers (all-inclusive never means all-inclusive, kids) — consider greener pastures. Namely, golf in St. Andrews.

Seriously. You won't miss much coming here to play golf instead of hitting the tropics.

OK, you'll miss sunny beaches, barely-there swimsuits and post-all-nighter Caribbean sunrises. But St. Andrews offers plenty more.

Long before it was a golf Mecca, this was a college town, a big reason why the streets stay alive here long after sunset, in contrast with most small Scottish golf towns. University of St. Andrews co-eds from all over Europe promenade and hang out in the bars on North and South streets.

Celebrities seem to have discovered the St. Andrews scene as well. During the 2006 Dunhill Links Pro-Am, Bill Murray reportedly befriended a pair of students at Ma Bells Bar; they invited him to a house party, where he spent the night drinking vodka out of a coffee mug and even washed the dirty dishes.

"He couldn't fail to have a good time, the party was overflowing with stunning Scandinavian blondes," fellow attendee Tom Wright told the local press.

"Are you kidding? This place is awesome," a study-abroad student from Boston told me as he waited for his pizza at One-O-One Connection, a late-night take-out joint on South Street. "There's tons of bars and at the end of the night we all usually end up together at the [student] Union."

Slide show Coming up aces A look at golf’s hot stars, on and off the course more photos

Even with its lively bar scene, St. Andrews offers parents a less worrisome destination for teen celebration than the Caribbean, where binge drinking and bad decisions are the norm.

"Sending me to St. Andrews was the only way my parents were going to keep me away from Cancun in high school," said J.O. Delancey, whose folks were less than thrilled at the thought of sending their 17-year-old south of the border with the rest of his senior class. As a result, the Michigan High School DI golf champ and his buddy got a free ride to the cradle of golf.

The golf courses
Few college students think a year ahead about anything, let alone booking tee times. But if you're in St. Andrews for even a few days you've got a good chance of getting on the Old Course via the daily ballot.

"I'd say at worst odds are about one-in-four, but it's usually much better than that," said John Stewart of the St. Andrews Links Trust.

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